System and method for delivering content in a unicast/multicast manner

ABSTRACT

The present invention is a system and method for enabling multicast synchronization of initially unicasted content. Multiple unicast streams are synchronized in order to convert the unicast streams into a multicast stream. Each unicast stream may be accelerated or slowed down in relation to a reference stream to a common point within each stream upon which the unicast streams are replaced by a multicast stream of the same content.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This application claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/875,026, filed on May 1, 2013, entitled “System and Method forDelivering Content in a Unicast/Multicast Manner,” which claims priorityto U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/638,216 filed on Dec. 15, 2009,entitled “System and Method for Delivering Content in aUnicast/Multicast Manner,” now U.S. Pat. No. 8,467,419, which claimspriority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/240,098, filed on Sep.30, 2005, entitled “System and Method for Delivering Content in aUnicast/Multicast Manner,” now U.S. Pat. No. 7,656,908, which claimspriority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/026,227, filed Dec. 21,2001, entitled “System and Method for Delivering Content in aUnicast/Multicast Manner,” now U.S. Pat. No. 7,082,142. The entiredisclosure of these prior applications is considered as being part ofthe disclosure of the accompanying applications and hereby expresslyincorporated by reference herein.

The present invention relates to content delivery, and more particularlyto a system and method for enabling multicast synchronization of unicastinformation streams

In conventional packet, frame or cell based systems there are typicallytwo modes of communication: point-to-point (also known as Unicast) andpoint-to-multipoint (also known as Multicast). Generally, Unicast iscommunication between a single sender and a single receiver over anetwork as opposed to multi cast which is a communication between asingle sender and multiple receivers.

Multicast is a receiver-based concept: receivers join a particularmulticast session group and traffic is delivered to all members of thatgroup by the network infrastructure. The sender or content provider doesnot need to maintain a list of specific receivers since only one copy ofa multicast message will pass over any link in the network, and copiesof the message will be made only where paths diverge at a router. Thusmulticasting yields many performance improvements and conservesbandwidth end-to-end in the network.

Some examples of multicasting applications include the transmission ofcorporate messages to employees, communication of stock quotes tobrokers, video and audio conferencing for remote meetings andtelecommuting, and replicating databases and web site information.Multicasting efficiently supports these types of transmissions byenabling sources to send a single copy of a message to multiplerecipients who explicitly want to receive the information. This is farmore efficient than requiring the source to send an individual copy of amessage to each requester such as is done in a unicasting manner, inwhich case the number of receivers is limited by the bandwidth availableto the sender. It is also more efficient than broadcasting one copy ofthe message to all nodes (broadcast) on the network, since many nodesmay not want the message, and because broadcasts are limited to a singlesubnet.

In spite of the various benefits affording by multicasting, unicastinghas the unequalled benefit and flexibility of allowing users to selectdifferent types of content at their leisure and on their specifictimeframes as opposed to being bound by the constraints of a multicastpresentation. For example, typically, once a multicasting sessionsbegins, those who request to join the multicast sessions thereafter willonly receive the multicasted content from the point on at which theyjoined as to opposed to having the content start from the beginning asin conventional unicasting.

Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a system and method whichcombines and integrates the various benefits and savings attributed toboth unicasting and multicasting.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a system and method for enabling multicastingof unicasted content thereby advantageously incorporating theflexibility of unicast delivery with the efficiency of multicastdelivery. In one embodiment, the present invention is a methodcomprising receiving a plurality of requests for unicast transmissionstreams, providing the plurality of unicast transmission streams,synchronizing the plurality of unicast transmission streams andreplacing the synchronized plurality of unicast transmission streamswith a multicast stream.

In one embodiment, the present invention is a method comprisingsynchronizing a plurality of separate unicasts and converging theplurality of synchronized unicasts into a single multicast, wherein theunicasts have been converged at the same point within each unicast.

In another embodiment, the present invention is a method comprisingdelivering a plurality of point-to-point communications to a pluralityof users, converting the plurality of point-to-point communications intoa point-to-multipoint communication and delivering thepoint-to-multipoint communication to the plurality of users.

In yet another embodiment, the present invention is a method formulticasting initially unicasted information streams, the methodcomprising processing a plurality of unicast streams to converge theplurality of unicast streams and converting the plurality of convergedunicast streams to a multicast stream, wherein the multicast streamreplaces the plurality of unicast stream without interruption of thestream content.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system configuration of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 illustrates another exemplary system configuration of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary content delivery configuration of thepresent invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary content delivery configuration of thepresent invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary content delivery configuration of thepresent invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary sender configuration of the presentinvention.

FIG. 7 illustrates another exemplary method of the present invention.

FIG. 8 illustrates yet another exemplary method of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference to FIG. 1, an exemplary system 10 is shown including, asway of illustration, an exemplary unicast/multicast sender 20 incommunication with a number of exemplary receivers 30, 32, 34, 36 and38. For illustrative purposes, five receivers are shown but it iscontemplated that any number of receivers is possible herein, evenamounts greatly exceeding five receivers. Exemplary receivers 30, 32,34, 36 and 38 are adapted to receive multimedia content provided byunicast/multicast sender 20. As used herein, the term multimedia ormultimedia content includes, although is not solely limited to, recordedand live video and audio clips and files, image files, digital musicclips and files, movies, recorded books, archived television and radioprograms, interactive multimedia netcasting, such as interactivenetcasting of video, text, graphics, animation, music videos, televisionshows, movie trailers, and other multimedia. Unicast/multicast sender 20and exemplary receivers 30, 32, 34, 36 and 38 are in communication viaone or more networks, not shown, which preferably includes unicast andmulticast compatible architecture including the appropriate servers androuters for facilitating unicast and multicast communications. In thepresent invention, one or more of the networks may be involved in thetransmission and delivery of information between the senders andreceivers such as a public shared IP network spanning many countries andcovering thousands of IP sub-networks and other public and privateIntranets. The receivers in the present invention may be any one or moreof a variety of user devices/players which may include a personalcomputer, a Web enabled TV terminal/settop, a car audio player, ahandheld media player such as an MP3 player or digital Walkman-typedevice, a PDA and any other device with the ability to receive and playany number of multimedia selections.

In the present invention, the transmission of information betweensenders and receivers is best performed by utilizing high bandwidthsignals, such as signals containing digital representations of one ormore movies, audio selections and related multimedia, between widelyseparated locations which is commonly done via special connections tohigh bandwidth transmission lines which are interconnected to form apoint-to-point connection from a source or sender, such as a multimediaserver to a receiver, such as a client personal terminal or device.Existing communication systems that provide such interconnection are nowcapable of supporting broadband data communication on both aninter-subscriber terminal basis (such as through an exchange) or on aclient-server to subscriber terminal basis. In either case, both thesubscriber terminal and the infrastructure equipment may contain adedicated transmitter/receiver device, such as a modem. For example,current broadband access systems that provide interconnection may useruse copper cabling (i.e. “twisted pair” technology), coaxial, fiberbased cable or combinations thereof, and conventionally employ twotransmitter/receiver devices, such as two broadband modems, one at eachend of the connection.

Referring still to FIG. 1, exemplary receivers 30, 32, 34, 36 and 38 areadapted to communicate with sender 20 through their respective networkssuch as their respective access networks or Local Area Networks (LANs),as described earlier herein. One exemplary connection may involve abroadband line, a T1/T3 line, Frame Relay (FR), ATM, an X.25 connectionand/or a wireless connection of some sort. In accordance with thepresent invention, receivers 30, 32, 34, 36 and 38 will request aunicast information stream, such as information streams 40, 42, 44, 46and 48 which are then provided to each requesting party or receiver bysender 20. During this initial phase or unicast phase 50, each of theinformation streams are provided or broadcast to each of the receiversin a unicast manner, e.g. a separate information stream is provided toeach separate receiver. In accordance with the present invention and asdescribed in more detail later herein, the various unicast informationstreams are merged or converged during a merging/convergence phase 60.Upon reaching a convergence point 70, the information streams arethereby provided in a multicast manner within multicast phase 80.Advantageously, once the information streams are merged and provided ina multicast manner, the network(s) performs the replication functionsnecessary so that each receiver can receive the requested informationstream. It is contemplated that other receivers in addition to the onesshown may join the multicast in a conventional manner and receive themulticast stream.

Referring now to FIG. 2, another exemplary system configuration 210 isshown. In this embodiment, an exemplary unicast/multicast sender 220 isin communication with a number of exemplary receivers 230, 232, 234, 236and 238. Exemplary receivers 230, 232, 234, 236 and 238 are adapted tocommunicate with sender 220 via unicast and multicast connections. Inaccordance with this embodiment of the present invention, receivers 230,232, and 234 are receiving information via a multicasted informationstream 240. In conjunction therewith, receivers 236 and 238 areinitially receiving unicasted information via unicasted streams 250 and252 during a unicast phase 260. During this initial phase or unicastphase 260, each of the information streams are provided or broadcast toeach of the receivers in a unicast manner, e.g. a separate informationstream is provided to each separate receiver. In accordance with thepresent invention and as described in more detail later herein, thevarious unicast information streams are merged or converged during amerging/convergence phase 270. Upon reaching a convergence point 280,the previously unicasted information streams are thereby provided in amulticast manner within multicast phase 290. In one embodiment, theunicast streams are merged into multicast stream 240 or alternatively, aseparate multicast stream may be provided to receivers 236 and 238.Advantageously, once the information streams are merged and provided ina multicast manner, the network(s) performs the replication functionsnecessary so that each receiver can receive the requested informationstream.

Referring to FIGS. 3-5, some exemplary content provisioning scenariousare shown which more fully illustrate the workings of the presentinvention. Referring to FIG. 3, a multimedia complex or server 300 isprovided which has the capability to deliver multiple streams of amultimedia event, such as a video, audio or other related event. Forexemplary purposes, multimedia server 300 is shown delivering sixstreams of a single thirty minute long multimedia event, multicaststreams A, B and C and unicast streams X, Y and Z. These six streamsserve fifteen exemplary customers, C1-C15. In this example, each ofcustomers C1-C12 is viewing one of the three multicast streams A, B andC, while customer C13 views unicast stream X, customer C14 views unicaststream Y, and customer C15 views unicast stream. Z.

Referring still to FIG. 3, it is assumed for exemplary purposes thatstream A starts at a time of 3:10, stream B at 3:20, stream C at 3:30,stream X at 3:31, stream Y at 3:35 and stream Z at 3:39. For purposes ofthis exemplary embodiment, the multicast streams start at specific tenminute intervals while the unicast streams start at more random times.The times shown are merely provided for illustrative purposes only sothat the teachings of the present invention can be more fully described.Referring now also to FIG. 4, assuming that the current time is 3:39 andthat at 3:40 the multicast event being streamed at A (shown in FIG. 3and having started at 3:10) will end and then a new stream D will startfrom the beginning, i.e. thereby maintaining a constant of threemulticast streams. As one possible application, this invention couldslow Unicast stream Z by a factor of approximately 10% which would bringit into sync with stream D in less than 10 minutes. For example, everyminute that transpires, stream unicast stream Z would be 1/10^(th)closer in synchronization with stream D. If the stream being providedis, for example, contains a digitized movie, then unicast stream Z andmulticast stream D would be on approximately the same frame or scenewith the digitized movie within the span of approximately ten minutes.In accordance with the present invention, once the streams aresynchronized or have met a certain convergence point, then unicaststream Z could be discontinued and customer C15 would be switched towatching multicast stream D, as shown in FIG. 5.

In the present invention, any speed up or slow down in the speed of anycontent provided to a user, such as a multimedia presentation, ispreferably be done with consideration of the user experience. While anychange in speed is technically possible the best experience for thecustomer comes from a change that is not noticeable. Different materialwould have different tolerances to changes in speed of presentation. Itis conceivable that a percentage change in speed in the range ofapproximately 1 to 10% may be applicable in many circumstances buttheoretically, any change is speed is possible, so long as the userexperience is not adversely affected.

In accordance with the present invention and as described with referenceto FIGS. 1-5, the entities requesting content from the multimediaserver, such as any number of clients, customers or users are connectedto a network and are capable of joining in and participating with auni/multicast session on the network. It is contemplated that theclients, customers or user are connected to the network through anInternet connection having access to conventional netcasting routersthus enabling Unicast and Multicast IP communications between theclients, customers or users and the provider of the content, such as themultimedia server. The clients, customers or users may be connected tonetwork or networks over a Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) dial-upconnection, an ISDN connection or an Asynchronous Digital SubscriberLoop (ADSL) connection, each to a Local Exchange Carrier (LEC) (notshown) and from there to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) (not shown),which in turn is connected to the IP network through an appropriaterouter. Alternatively, a client, customer or user can be connected to anISP through a cable modem over cable facilities through a cable TVprovider. Even further, the client, customer or user could be connectedto a LAN and to a customer premises router to a UR over, for example, aWide Area Network (WAN), T1 facilities, Frame Relay, ATM, or X.25. Ofcourse other possible connections and combinations of connections arepossible so long as transmission from a content service provider, suchas a multimedia server, to the appropriate content requestor is enabled.

Referring to FIG. 6, an exemplary configuration for a multimedia serveror sender is shown. Exemplary sender 600 may include a unicast component620, a converger component 630 and a multicast delivery component 640which function and provide in a number of manners, such as a contentdelivery mechanism and as a transition mechanism that enables thoseinitially Unicast-connected clients on their respective Unicast IPnetworks to access the Multicasted content on the network. Such atransition may be enabled via converger component 630 which maycalculate the necessary stream modifications necessary to synchronizethe unicast stream(s) to the multicast stream(s). Sender 600 may alsoenable users to join a group on the network by providing informationrelating to what multicast sessions are in progress or scheduled on thenetwork by receiving and sending data on those groups within a session.In the present invention, it is contemplated the sender 600 may handle atheoretically unlimited amount of users between users that haveestablished initial unicast delivery sessions and those that areeventually merged or converged into multicast delivery sessions, subjectto the constraints and limitations of the network(s) involved. In oneembodiment of the present invention, unicast delivery component 620,converger component 630 and multicast delivery component may beimplemented as software running in conjunction with any number ofgeneral or specialized computer processors to implement the steps andmethods described herein for delivering and synchronizing contentdelivery over a network. In one embodiment of the present invention theconverger component could reside with the sender 600 or with thereceiver 610 or as part of the network provided the ability tocommunicate with the unicast and multicast delivery components ismaintained.

Referring now to FIG. 7, an exemplary method for providing content in aboth a unicasting and multicasting manner is shown. In one embodiment, anumber of unicast requests are received, step 700. The received unicastrequests are fulfilled by providing the requested unicast content to therequestors or users via unicast streams, step 710. The unicast streamsare then synchronized or converged, step 720. The converged streams arethen provided in a multicast format to the initial requesters in amanner transparent to the users but more efficient and scalable in anetwork perspective, step 730. It is contemplated that in step 720, ifthere are multiple unicast streams, not all of the unicast streams maybe able to be converged in a manner transparent to the user. In such acase, only those unicast streams that can be readily and transparentlyscaled up or scaled down to reach a suitable convergence point beforeconverting the streams to a multicast format will be undertaken, such asdescribed earlier herein with respect to FIGS. 3-5.

Referring now to FIG. 8, another embodiment of a method of the presentinvention is shown. In this embodiment, a number of content requests arereceived, step 800. The requested content may then be provided by eitherdelivering unicast streams and/or multicast streams to the requesters orusers, step 810. Once a number of streams are being delivered, one ormore of the unicast streams are merged with one or more of the multicaststreams, step 820. The content is then delivered in both a unicast andmulticast stream format, step 830, provided that any unicast streams arenecessary at all. It is contemplated and preferred that in step 830, thenumber of unicast and multicast streams provided in step 830 will beless than the original amount of streams provided in step 810 given thatone or more of the unicast streams will have been consolidated into amulticast format.

While the invention has been described in conjunction with specificembodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modificationsand variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art.Accordingly, preferred embodiments of the invention as set forth hereinare intended to be illustrative, not limiting. Various changes may bemade without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: transmitting a firstunicast stream; transmitting a second unicast stream; synchronizing thefirst unicast stream with the second unicast stream; and replacing thesynchronized first and second unicast streams with a multicast stream.2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: providing informationrelating to the multicast stream to a receiver.
 3. The method of claim1, wherein the synchronizing comprises speeding up transmission of thesecond unicast stream.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein thesynchronizing comprises slowing down transmission of the second unicaststream.
 5. A method, comprising: converging a first unicast stream, asecond unicast stream, and a multicast stream at a point in time; andafter the converging, switching a recipient of the first unicast streamto the multicast stream.
 6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:after the switching, discarding the first multicast stream.
 7. Themethod of claim 5, further comprising: providing information relating toa multicast session to the recipient.
 8. The method of claim 7, whereinthe multicast session is in progress.
 9. The method of claim 7, whereinthe multicast session is scheduled to take place at a future time. 10.The method of claim 5, wherein the multicast stream is transmitted atpredetermined time intervals.
 11. The method of claim 5, wherein thefirst unicast stream is transmitted at predetermined intervals.
 12. Themethod of claim 11, wherein the point in time corresponds to asimultaneous transmission of the first unicast stream and the multicaststream.
 13. The method of claim 5, further comprising: dynamicallymodifying the first unicast stream.
 14. The method of claim 5, furthercomprising: dynamically modifying the multicast stream.
 15. The methodof claim 5, further comprising: speeding up transmission of the firstunicast stream.
 16. The method of claim 5, further comprising: slowingdown transmission of the first unicast stream.
 17. The method of claim5, further comprising: prior to the converging, selecting the firstunicast stream and the second unicast stream from a larger set ofunicast streams, wherein the unicast streams of the larger set that arenot selected are incapable of being converged.
 18. A non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium including a set of instructions that isexecutable by a processor, the set of instructions, when executed by theprocessor, causing the processor to perform operations comprising:synchronizing a plurality of unicast streams; and replacing thesynchronized plurality of unicast streams with a multicast stream. 19.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, whereinthe synchronizing comprises speeding up transmission of one of theunicast streams.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumof claim 18, wherein the synchronizing comprises slowing downtransmission of one of the unicast streams.